FIM SPEEDWAY TOP 5 MOMENTS | TORUN

As speedway toasts its 100th anniversary season, FIMSpeedway.com looks back at the top five moments celebrated at each of our 2023 FIM Speedway venues.

Today, we feature the Marian Rose Motoarena, stage of the final round of 2023 – the FIM Speedway GP of Poland – Torun on September 30.

 

1. GOLLOB GRABS A MAX IN 2010

When Speedway GP first came to the Marian Rose Motoarena in 2010, Polish fans were treated to a night they will never forget.

National icon Tomasz Gollob didn’t just top the podium, he did it with a seven-ride, 24-point maximum that put him firmly in the driver’s seat to end Poland’s 37-year wait for a world champion.

But it wasn’t just Gollob’s glorious victory the Poles celebrated; Norwegian-born Polish international Rune Holta took second place, while Jaroslaw Hampel finished third – meaning it was the first time in Speedway GP history that three riders from one nation had packed the podium.

 

2. HOLDER’S HEROICS IN 2012

Aussie icon Chris Holder became a firm favourite with the Torun crowd following his arrival in 2008, and he wrote his name in Marian Rose Motoarena folklore with an unforgettable Speedway GP world title win in 2012.

Holding just a two-point lead over triple world champion Nicki Pedersen going into the event, the Sydneysider’s nerves were tested to breaking point, especially after a first-turn clash between the pair in their semi-final.

A verbal altercation nearly saw them come to blows, but Australian legend Jason Crump – in his final act as a Speedway GP rider – promptly stepped in to remove Holder from the chaos, taking him into a quiet corridor under the stand to help him regain his composure.

Holder returned to the track to clinch the world title and join triple world champion Crump in Australian speedway’s most elite club as the torch was passed and JC brought his illustrious career on the SGP stage to a fitting end.

 

3. WOFFY WORLD CHAMP IN 2013

Some Speedway GP title wins are predictable, some are a bit of a surprise, but no-one lifts the World Championship at odds of 500/1.

That was until Great Britain hero Tai Woffinden made his Speedway GP comeback in 2013. He left the series at the end of a nightmare 2010 campaign, which came just months after he lost his father and mentor Rob to cancer.

He bounced back in the most incredible style, with his sensational 2013 season culminating in God Save the Queen ringing out across the Marian Rose Motoarena to herald Britain’s first world champion since 2000.

Woffinden sealed the Speedway GP trophy in Torun again in 2015 and 2018, but there’s no doubt the first one remains the most incredible chapter in Woffinden’s epic speedway story.

 

4. DUDEK’S DELIGHT IN 2017

Aussie racer Jason Doyle was expected to seal the 2017 Speedway GP World Championship with a round to race at Torun in 2017.

But his nearest rival Patryk Dudek had other ideas and decided to write his own piece of Speedway GP history.

After battling hard to keep pace with Doyle all year, Dudek kept himself in the title race with his first Speedway GP victory in Torun.

It was a potentially key psychological blow as it meant Doyle had to fight for gold at the final round in Melbourne, rather than just head Down Under for a coronation. The Newcastle-born racer got the job done with a sensational FIM Australian Speedway GP win, but Dudek still become the first rider in the series’ history to finish in the world’s top two in their debut season.

 

5. ZMARZLIK ZOOMS TO GOLD IN 2019

Following Gollob’s Speedway GP heroics over nearly two decades, a new generation of Polish stars emerged as the 2010s progressed. But only one of them has followed Mr G and 1973 FIM Speedway World Final winner Jerzy Szczakiel into the elite club of Polish world champions.

Bartosz Zmarzlik’s nerves were tested to breaking point at the 2019 FIM Torun Speedway GP as nearest rival Leon Madsen launched a ferocious challenge, winning the event with a 21-point, seven-ride maximum.

Fortunately for the home fans, Zmarzlik did enough, sealing gold by two points for his first Speedway GP world title. He followed it up with another in 2020, before regaining his crown in 2022 after falling just three points short of Artem Laguta in an epic title duel in 2021.

All three of Zmarzlik’s Speedway GP trophies have been lifted in Torun and he will be bidding to make it No.4 on September 30.

 

Tickets for this year’s title-decider in Torun’s Marian Rose Motoarena are on sale now. Book your FIM Torun Speedway GP tickets HERE.